My One and Only Parent
by Nocturnea
Summary: Kind forest animals are all well and good, but there's something special about a human parent's affection. Henry had only ever received that from one person; why is that person now gone? T for blood, lots of it. Some spoilers for Awakening past chapter nine, and mildly disturbing.


_This is just a little idea that popped into my head after reading Ricken and Henry's B support. It's about a little twist on Henry's apparent lack of caring to his former comrades, specifically Mustafa. I personally think he may have (going by his personality in the Japanese version) fooled himself into saying he doesn't care, and doesn't by the time he met Chrom and the Shepherds, but was devastated at first by Mustafa's death. Sorry if I'm too inaccurate about his personality, I'm trying to find a middle ground between his personality in the Japanese version (from translated supports on Serenes Forest) and his personality in the North American localization. I also make up a random Plegian soldier's name, and the name of Mustafa's son._

_Warning: There is some disturbing content in this._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem._

If not for the massive pool of blood about what had recently been a battlefield, Henry would have been reconsidering his request for the crows to take him there. But with so much blood running red around him, he could cope. He had to know. Had to know if what Gorivan had said was true. Had to know if there was a death that could actually hurt him. Henry had to know if General Mustafa was truly dead.

The man had been like a father to him; much as Henry loved the animals who had cared for him as a young child, there was something... Special about having a human parent. Mustafa would always be kind and caring to him; always spoke words of encouragement to the young-ish Dark Mage, always gave him sweets, and was constantly offering to introduce the boy to his son, Corey, who was of around the same age.

Henry was to be ordered into battle only as one of the king's own forces, or so he'd been told. He'd been told his magic was fit only for such an honour and "nothing less". Such an event would surely be a very bloody battle, and Henry wouldn't have cared one bit if he and his so-called "comrades-in-arms" were killed. So he wasn't quite sure what his own reaction to General Mustafa being confirmed dead would be.

He had to admit, occasionally he found the General to be a tad queer. Like when he discreetly ordered Henry to warn the Feroxi and Ylisseans of the Exalt's planned execution (or rather, authorized- Henry had been planning to do so anyway). The General's words had been,

"I have heard that the Exalt is like family to all her people. I cannot bear to think that I have played a part in the murder of someone so dear to so many." Henry hadn't really understood at the time why someone would care if someone else died; after all, we all kick the bucket eventually, right? But he felt he was beginning to. The boy walked along, through the bloodstained mire, scanning the unceremoniously abandoned bodies for Mustafa's.

And then he saw it. Amid a pool of blood, there laid the noble berserker's corpse. His axe still loosely gripped by his hand, he looked almost... Peaceful. Henry hated every moment of that. The man wasn't meant to be peaceful; he was a warrior, by gods! To see the body that was always busy caring for everyone laying still simply crushed Henry's heart.

Henry stared for a few more minutes. Then, his body began to move, seemingly on its own. He hefted the heavy axe; he could not lift it for long, but in what little time he could, he managed to give himself a huge gash up his leg. To most, it would be unbearable pain; but to Henry, it was only just enough physical pain to take his mind off of the pain it was inflicting on itself over the loss of the only human family the boy had ever known.

The ravens and crows cawed sadly. They offered him to carry him to the nearest town; there were, after all, rather a huge number of them. They tried to cheer him up back to normal any way they could; they were, after all, his best friends. Finally, as they carried him towards the town, they pretty much ordered him to fall asleep and forget all about what he had felt that day.

And Henry always follows orders.


End file.
